25 Years of Whitt and Wisdom

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This is a very special day, because it marks the launch of my latest book – 25 Years of Whitt & Wisdom. Let me tell you how the project took shape.

In 1987 I launched Making Money Made Simple, the book that sold over two million copies worldwide and changed the lives of many who read it. Then in 1988, Sunday Mail editor Des Houghton offered me the opportunity to write a weekly column on personal finance. I accepted with some reluctance, as I had a huge workload with the financial advisory business I was building, and I really couldn’t see how I could find a new topic every week.

But accept I did, and over time I have developed a vast library of columns that record much of the financial history of the last quarter of a century. It has been a special time in history, dominated by three unique factors: rising life expectancies, a burgeoning baby boomer population, and 2008’s Global Financial Crisis, which saw the largest loss of wealth in world history. Subsequent actions by governments all around the developed world have left us with an unprecedented sea of debt and historically low interest rates. As a result, the world is ill-equipped to face the challenges of an ageing population who are demanding more and more from governments.

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And the majority of Australians are unprepared too. They grew up in a world where they could reasonably expect to live for no more than 15 years after they retired, where interest rates were high, and where government assistance was regarded as the norm. Now one of the biggest dangers they face is that they may live longer than their money.

Several things struck me as I chose the best of my articles for this book. The first is that the basics have not really changed: boom follows bust and bust follows boom. To make it even more difficult for investors, the media will almost always focus on the bad news of the day.

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To this mix in Australia, add the constant stream of possible changes to superannuation and the age pension that are floated and debated by all political parties year in year out.

It is a confusing time for anybody trying to build or retain wealth, but it is still possible. It requires education about markets, an understanding of compound interest, and knowledge of how economic cycles work.

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Until now, all my books have been paperbacks, but I wanted the new book to be something very special – part of my legacy. No, retirement is the last thing on my mind even though I will be 76 in January. However, I did want this book to be memorable. As a result, the book is a hardcover with a wrap-around dust jacket and comprises 450 pages, with illustrations.

It is a perfect Christmas gift for any younger people in the finance industry because it will put the history of the last 25 years in context, and it would be a great primer for anyone approaching retirement, giving them an inkling about what to expect

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WHERE CAN I FIND IT?

The book will not be officially launched until February 2016, because it will not be in most bookshops until then. This is because bookshops order their Christmas stock in June, and five months ago we did not even know if the book would be ready by now.  However, we have ample advance copies, so you can buy it online from my website.

I am also doing a special event at Riverbend Books in Oxford Street, Bulimba at 5.45pm on Wednesday 16 December. You can book tickets on their website here.

This is the only bookshop that will have it pre-launch. It is on sale there now, so you can pop in if you wish and buy it right away.

In my view this is the best book I’ve written, but I appreciate that it can be challenging to buy anything sight unseen, so we are offering an unconditional money-back guarantee on sales through the website.  If you don’t like the book, we’ll refund your money with no questions asked.

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COMMENTS FROM READERS

“This is your best book ever.  It reminded me of many things I had forgotten.” 
Eric, aged 81 but still working

“Every person who is building wealth should read this book with a highlighter pen in their hand.  An absolutely essential tool.  Wish it had been available to give to my clients when I was still working.”
John, retired financial advisor

“This is such an easy read because it is like a collection of short stories.  It has given me a great sense of the history of the industry.”
Kevin, aged 36, stockbroker

“Experience is a great teacher, but the getting of wisdom through experience can be extremely costly.  Anyone who reads this book has access to the lessons of experience without going through the pain.”
Julie, aged 51 and thinking about leaving the workforce

“I must say it is a sage work. I like the writing style, the subject matter of the original articles and the re-presentation with contemporaneous commentary. I also think the grouping into topics relevant to today also works well. So, overall a very fine piece of work.”
Roger, retired executive

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All of the above cartoons were done by Mucci. They all feature in the new book

A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU

In 1996 I launched my Do It Yourself Wealth Kit, which included the book Golden Rules of Wealth, and my Wealth Creator on CD-ROM.  The book has become a timeless classic and continues to be a bestseller, as it contains 40 fundamental principles about building wealth.  However, the CD-ROM is showing its age: it won’t work on the new Macs, and the stock exchange calculators will not go past 2012.  The calculators are no big problem because the information is on my website and updated every month.

Even though it’s a fabulous tool – I use it almost every day – I’ve decided to discontinue production and want to offer a free CD to those who buy the new book from my website.  It then occurred to me that many readers may already own it, and it’s no good to Mac users, so I’m going to extend the gift.

So with any purchase of the new book, you can choose any one of the following for free:

  • the Wealth Creator CD-ROM
  • the book Golden Rules of Wealth
  • a CD audio book of Making Money Made Simple

This is just my way of saying thank you for all your support over the years.

Please note that the postage is $13 which may seem expensive but in fact it is below cost. This is because Australia Post works in bands – the first band is under 500 g and then the next band goes straight to 3 kg. This means a package that weighs 900 g is the same postage as one that weighs 2.7 kg.  the new book is a high quality production in hardback and weighs 800 g. At least it gave us the opportunity to give you a Christmas gift with no extra shipping charges. Hope you understand.